The development of Offshore Oil and Gas Production Systems demands a multi-disciplinary team to investigate a multitude of design uncertainties extending from the reservoir to the production facilities, and commodity product sales. The generation of concept options usually follows a linear and technically oriented process, where each specialized discipline determines the technical requirements and boundary conditions to the next discipline. The process may be repeated as new information becomes available, and some design uncertainties are progressively reduced, as most of key design parameters are stochastic and non-deterministic. This methodology may vary between Oil Companies regarding the logical sequence, accuracy range and concept coverage, but is strongly driven by the Company’s culture and by industrial capacity available in each region.

On the other hand, the use of innovative equipment and systems is directly related to the project economics and to the return on investment provided by those new technologies. Therefore, the number of new technologies applicable to equipment, systems and construction resources become continuously higher in the oil & gas industry, requiring specialized market surveys and management of risks applicable new technologies of lower maturity level. Aiming to achieve the best results, it is crucial that the technological maturity and the risks associated with new technologies be properly managed, aiming to guarantee the success of the technology and of the project.

Due to limitations of time and availability of costly multi-disciplinary specialized resources, the generation of field development concept options is often focused primarily on generating concepts considering the highest technological maturity and the lowest Capital Expenditure (CAPEX). Following this approach, the generation of ranked concept options with a focus on the Net Present Value (NPV) is usually performed on a limited workable number of options. The NPV check is a project finance tool to assess and rank the concepts generated at the end of the engineering process. Further design phase iterations tend towards these same options, resulting in either slow and incremental improvement, or worse through propagation of the initial uncertainties, inadequate facilities design and reduced project reward.

This presentation aims to present a summarized perspective of a complete offshore development, highlighting the main disciplines involved in the process and the key assets to be evaluated in holistic combination of building blocks, such as x-trees, plets, plems, manifolds, umbilicals, flowlines and risers. Some general facts and data regarding the conceptual engineering will be presented, followed by an extensive historical assessment of integrated design methodologies developed in the industry. To conclude the presentation, a case study will be presented and the main technical & economical drivers for the design selection will be discussed.

Leandro Basilio

Leandro Basilio is founder and COO at Deep Seed Solutions, Master of Science from the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro with emphasis on Oil and Energy and Mechanical Engineer from CEFET of Rio de Janeiro. Leandro is also certified as PMP-PMI and post graduated from the Fundação Dom Cabral in the Executive MBA Program. With over 20 years of experience in the mechanical industry, he has advanced knowledge in design and manufacture of equipment for the Automotive and Oil & Gas industries. Over the past 15 years, he has developed his career leading projects in Oil & Gas, with special emphasis on the development of offshore oil and gas production systems at Petrobras, and developing conceptual, basic and executive projects of subsea production systems at Wood.